At Walgreen, renouncing corporate citizenship

[Weston White]

At Walgreen, renouncing corporate citizenship

A little less than two years ago, Gregory D. Wasson, the chief executive of Walgreen, sought a series of tax breaks from Illinois, where his company is based.

“We are proud of our Illinois heritage,” he said at the time. “Just as our stores and pharmacies are health and daily living anchors for the communities we serve, we as a company are now recommitted to serving as an economic anchor for northeastern Illinois.”

The state gave Walgreen $46 million in corporate income tax credits over 10 years in exchange for a pledge to create 500 jobs and invest in upgrading its offices. The state also provided $625,000 in training money and $875,000 in other tax incentives.

Mr. Wasson’s actions, however, could soon run counter to his words. The same chief executive who said he was so “proud of our Illinois heritage” is now considering moving the company’s headquarters to Switzerland as part of a merger with Alliance Boots, a European drugstore chain.

Why? To lower Walgreen’s tax bill even further.

Alarmingly, dozens of large United States companies are contemplating the increasingly popular tax-skirting tactic known as an inversion. Under the strategy, companies merge with foreign rivals in countries with lower tax rates and then reincorporate there while still enjoying the benefits of doing a large part of their business in the United States. AbbVie, a drug company spun off from Abbott Laboratories, is in talks to merge with its rival Shire, based in Ireland, Europe’s equivalent of a tax haven. Medtronic announced plans to merge with Covidien, also based in Ireland. Similarly, Pfizer sought to buy AstraZeneca, based in Britain, where the tax rate is lower than it is in the United States, but AstraZeneca’s board rejected that offer.

In Walgreen’s case, an inversion would be an affront to United States taxpayers. The company, which also owns the Duane Reade chain in New York, reaps almost a quarter of its $72 billion in revenue directly from the government; it received $16.7 billion from Medicare and Medicaid last year.

“It is unconscionable that Walgreen is considering this tax dodge — especially in light of the billions of dollars it receives from U.S. taxpayers every year,” Nell Geiser, associate director of Change to Win Retail Initiatives, a union-financed consumer advocacy group, said in a statement.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/renoun...001240207.html

[oyarde]

Leaving Illinois for Switzerland .No surprise there .

[erowe1]

An affront to US taxpayers?

Hardly! They're providing us with a good example.

[thoughtomator]

The inevitable result of paying a company to relocate in your state - moment the subsidy runs out, so do they.

[PRB]

they don't want to be a person anymore??

[Keith and stuff]

I'm glad the free market is finding partial solutions to this horrible problem created by the federal and state governments.

[LibForestPaul]

Nell Geiser, associate director of Change to Win Retail Initiatives, a union-financed consumer advocacy group

No pie for you. Finding out your not part of the 51% sucks.

[oyarde]

they don't want to be a person anymore??

If I was a person in Illinois , I would leave , the once great lands of the Illini are now shameful.....

[ILUVRP]

i hate taxes as much as everyone , but i love america and am willing to pay my taxes , i hate companies that will do anything to increase the bottom line ( sooner or later they will run out of ways ) .

they have reduced workers bennies , cut hours , shipped jobs overseas , making about everything overseas , then sell their $hit in america , let switzerland protect their overseas interests , the swiss can use their navy--air force -- army or borrow ireland's navy/af.

i for one will stop shopping at walgreens , these $#@! companies don't pay taxes anyway , we pay their taxes when we shop there ,
they just want to increase their bottom line to get bigger bonuses/options .

its hard to believe that after 13 yrs in the military i see this $#@! going on in this great country .

i will add this , what would business tax rates be here w/o a military and we don't protect the rest of the world , then we could be like switzerland and the rest of the free loader countries .

i wish all big money people/companies that don't love america would take their money and leave america .

to hell with them , they are nothing but takers , giving nothing .

[erowe1]

i hate taxes as much as everyone , but i love america and am willing to pay my taxes , i hate companies that will do anything to increase the bottom line ( sooner or later they will run out of ways ) .

they have reduced workers bennies , cut hours , shipped jobs overseas , making about everything overseas , then sell their $hit in america , let switzerland protect their overseas interests , the swiss can use their navy--air force -- army or borrow ireland's navy/af.

i for one will stop shopping at walgreens , these $#@! companies don't pay taxes anyway , we pay their taxes when we shop there ,
they just want to increase their bottom line to get bigger bonuses/options .

its hard to believe that after 13 yrs in the military i see this $#@! going on in this great country .

i will add this , what would business tax rates be here w/o a military and we don't protect the rest of the world , then we could be like switzerland and the rest of the free loader countries .

i wish all big money people/companies that don't love america would take their money and leave america .

to hell with them , they are nothing but takers , giving nothing .

You'd prefer that the government have that money?

[ILUVRP]

You'd prefer that the government have that money?

which goverment ?

i don't care if all companies move overseas , just don't ask america for anything , look at the drug companies wanting to move off shore , how many billions have we given them .

tax all companies on the profits they tell their stock holders they made .

now when we buy from walgreens the tax money is in the price we pay , so with lower taxes i'm sure they will reduce the price of items we buy , if anyone believes that they should get out of the kool-aid line .

[erowe1]

which goverment ?

Obviously the one whose taxes you're complaining about them avoiding.

[ILUVRP]

Obviously the one whose taxes you're complaining about them avoiding.

i'm not complaining , its a free country , like i said i wish they would all leave if they don't like america , just don't ask america for anything .

its like rich people that don't want to pay taxes , they should also move to another country .

i guess when switzerland gets a navy/af/army their tax rates would increase .

[erowe1]

i'm not complaining , its a free country , like i said i wish they would all leave if they don't like america , just don't ask america for anything .

its like rich people that don't want to pay taxes , they should also move to another country .

i guess when switzerland gets a navy/af/army their tax rates would increase .

That sounds like complaining.

Anything anyone does to avoid, evade, or lessen in any way, the amount of money they give to the government is commendable. You should cheer them on.

I'll make a special point to buy something at Walgreens out of gratitude for this.

[ILUVRP]

That sounds like complaining.

Anything anyone does to avoid, evade, or lessen in any way, the amount of money they give to the government is commendable. You should cheer them on.

I'll make a special point to buy something at Walgreens out of gratitude for this.

]

i have no problem with people not wanting to pay taxes , i am not a sniveler about taxes , if i were rich and didn't like the taxes i would move .

i guess when countries like switzerland gets over 4500 gi's killed and spend trillions of dollars on a war over oil they will raise taxes .

[erowe1]

]

i have no problem with people not wanting to pay taxes , i am not a sniveler about taxes , if i were rich and didn't like the taxes i would move .

i guess when countries like switzerland gets over 4500 gi's killed and spend trillions of dollars on a war over oil they will raise taxes .

Why not stay here and still not pay taxes? You shouldn't have to move.

[ILUVRP]

Why not stay here and still not pay taxes? You shouldn't have to move.

everyone hates taxes , it does cost a lot of money to run a country as big as america and protecting the world like we do , it would be great if we had a country to take care of america , then our taxes would be very low .

i just hate the very rich and corp's that want all the bennies that america offers but don't want to pay for them , they are takers and have done nothing for america . esp corp's that have never paid a nickle in taxes as the tax is paid buy the one that bought their product/service . what makes them so special .

let walgreens close all their stores in america and move them to switzerland , that's called free enterprize .

i doubt that a country like switzerland would let walgreens open one store there .

[Acala]

Every dollar that flows into the hands of government perpetuates war, corruption, and tyranny. The beast will only stop its rampage when it has starved to death. Therefore I applaud every dollar that is kept in private hands, even if I don't particularly like the private hands it is in. Go Walgreens!

[erowe1]

everyone hates taxes , it does cost a lot of money to run a country as big as america and protecting the world like we do , it would be great if we had a country to take care of america , then our taxes would be very low .

Another thing that would make our taxes very low would be following the courageous lead of Walgreens and not paying them.

It doesn't cost a lot of money to run America. I don't want them to run America. I don't think they're protecting the world either. And whatever it is they are doing, I don't want them to. Do you?

[ILUVRP]

things are the way they are , we are all nothing , the corps run this country , the only thing great about companies locating overseas is i don't think they can donate money to our elected people .

but then again our great scotus said corp's are people , also they said corp's can take our houses and put up a shopping center .

but people still feel sorry for corp's , to hell with corp's , walgreens pays their workers about 9/hr , the min wage in switzerland is about 15/hr .

[erowe1]

things are the way they are , we are all nothing , the corps run this country , the only thing great about companies locating overseas is i don't think they can donate money to our elected people .

but then again our great scotus said corp's are people .

Of course corporations are people.

And that's not the only good thing about them relocating. One really great thing about them relocating is that they'll give less money to the government.

Again, do you really prefer that the government have that money? If so, why?

[ILUVRP]

Of course corporations are people.

And that's not the only good thing about them relocating. One really great thing about them relocating is that they'll give less money to the government.

Again, do you really prefer that the government have that money? If so, why?

corporations are not people , show me where in the cotus it says so .

i consider companies that would move hq so they can make more money like i do people like limbaugh/cheney/ ted nugent , they are takers and don't want to give anything .

i think companies like walgreens would move to a 3rd world country in central africa next to cut taxes a few percent .

as far as your last question , my answer is yes , i would prefer our goverment to get their tax money other than the swiss .

but i guess the swiss will pay to protect walgreens interests , pay to build their roads , airports , parks , their under payed workers med cost .

like i said screw walgreens and people that want to move to avoid taxes , if walgreens are people take away their citizenship.

[erowe1]

i consider companies that would move hq so they can make more money like i do people like limbaugh/cheney/ ted nugent , they are takers and don't want to give anything .

And by "give anything" you mean give anything to the government?

Well, yeah. Why should anyone want to give anything to them?

if walgreens are people take away their citizenship.

Amen to that. Take away all the rest of our citizenships while you're at it. Leave no one under the subjugation of the regime in DC. We should be so lucky.

[Acala]

corporations are not people , show me where in the cotus it says so .

i consider companies that would move hq so they can make more money like i do people like limbaugh/cheney/ ted nugent , they are takers and don't want to give anything .

i think companies like walgreens would move to a 3rd world country in central africa next to cut taxes a few percent .

as far as your last question , my answer is yes , i would prefer our goverment to get their tax money other than the swiss .

but i guess the swiss will pay to protect walgreens interests , pay to build their roads , airports , parks , their under payed workers med cost .

like i said screw walgreens and people that want to move to avoid taxes , if walgreens are people take away their citizenship.

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that money paid in taxes is used to benefit the people at large. I would not support taxation even if it WERE used to benefit the people but, of course, it isn't. The US government is nothing but a giant crony-capitalist scam and taxes keep it operating.

[ILUVRP]

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that money paid in taxes is used to benefit the people at large. I would not support taxation even if it WERE used to benefit the people but, of course, it isn't. The US government is nothing but a giant crony-capitalist scam and taxes keep it operating.

you can say that about all governments .

for those that think a business is a person , then lets put GM in jail for murder , knowing that the sw was bad and selling cars that had a bad ign sw that turned off the engine .

[erowe1]

you can say that about all governments .

Exactly. So let's give them as little money as possible and heap praise on others who do the same.

[Weston White]

The case being that it was made quite clear that:

Mr. Wasson isn’t hiding the fact the company is considering the move for tax reasons. On a call with investors and analysts last week, he plainly said that company leaders were examining “what the structure could do as far as our effective tax rate.”

Is this not a qualified economic substance violation; as part of the step transaction doctrine stated in Gregory v. Helvering, 293 U.S. 465 (1935), along with applying substance over form accounting principle to taxation?

[Weston White]

Exactly. So let's give them as little money as possible and heap praise on others who do the same.

Sure, but not after they had first sucked up billions of dollars from its enabling government.

[mad cow]

Good!And I give the same advice to the USA I give to New York and California when their companies move to Texas or Florida,Change Yer Tax Laws!

[angelatc]

i hate taxes as much as everyone , but i love america and am willing to pay my taxes ,.

LIberal bull$#@! alert. If you really love America maybe you can pay mine, too?